The present invention relates generally to the field of wireless communication systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to providing the multifunction capabilities of wireless communication and on-demand, mobile capture of video content.
Currently there are more than 169 million wireless subscribers in the United States. In previous years, industry experts have predicted that wireless phone sales were close to or had reached a saturation point. However, in recent years, a multitude of new features have been added to the basic wireless phone design to entice consumers to make new wireless phone purchases and sign up for new wireless provider plans. Therefore, wireless phones that provide features such as internet access, photographic capabilities and electronic game interfaces make up a significant and growing percentage of the overall wireless phone market. Last year about nine million camera equipped wireless phones were sold in the United States. And this year it is expected that another 28 million camera equipped wireless phones will be sold in the United States. Additionally, worldwide 60 million camera wireless phones were sold last year and more than 100 million are expected to be sold this year.
Because of the changes in wireless phone technology, consumers today expect more features from their wireless phones. These features may be for convenience, e.g., electronic address books and calendars, or leisure, e.g., electronic games and cameras. It is predicted that the next generation of wireless phones will be a combination of phones, PDAs, digital cameras, and handheld gaming devices. In fact, thanks to the digital revolution, the feature set of current wireless phones has increased to include extras such as games, music players, and text messaging. Future wireless phones might not look radically different from existing wireless phones, but their integrated abilities likely will change significantly.
As wireless phone capabilities expand, manufacturers have to look for new features to capture the attention of wireless phone consumers. In the last year the first mobile phones with integrated television tuners were introduced. These television-wireless phones integrate a television tuner and a video decoder to provide the consumer with the ability to watch free over-the-air programming.
However, the existing wireless phone television art has several deficiencies with regard to content. While a television tuner provides consumers with the means to view over-the-air programming, it has the drawback that it cannot dependably provide on demand content, i.e., certain over the air channels may not be available during the time the consumer wishes to view television or the program(s) the consumer wishes to view may not be available at that time. Further, using the wireless phone purely as a playback device limits the wireless phone users' ability to avail themselves of the mobility and availability of the wireless phone to create as-desired content for later playback.
There are many limitations to viewing television content on a wireless phone that is merely the combination of a wireless phone and television tuner. For instance, a wireless phone is a mobile device carried by an individual to make wireless telephone calls, as such, a person viewing a television program on a wireless phone is likely to be interrupted by incoming calls or may need to make outgoing calls. Additionally, because a wireless phone is a mobile device it is highly likely that television viewing on such a device will occur in public or other locations where the wireless phone user may be interrupted during his or her television viewing.